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Die Another Day (2002)
What happened?!?
******MAY INCLUDE A SPOILER******
Not a typical Bond film. Brosnan still does a remarkable job as Bond, however, it seems as though he has lost some of his pizzazz. There were way too many special effects in this film. I know there are special effects in all Bond films, but most are not as noticeable as those in Die Another Day. One particular instance that comes to mind is when Bond is "surfing" on the "tsunami-like" wave in Iceland. You can tell it is a blue screen.
As far as Halle Berry goes, she did a pretty good job pulling off the character of Jinx, however, it's not a normal in Bond films to have the "Bond girl" be his equal. The fact that Jinx is his partner takes away from some of the movie. It's supposed to be a Bond movie, not a Bond and friends movie. Yes, in such films as The World is Not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies, the Bond Girl helps James get through the toughest of situations, but they are never his partner. In Die Another Day, Jinx has the same amount of stunts as Bond, which seems to make it less of a Bond film.
I'd like to know what happened to some of the classics in this movie. What happened to M, Q, and Moneypenny? While each of these characters made an appearance in this film, their screen time was not nearly enough. As always, Dench gives a wonderful performance. The wonderful one on one dialogue between M and Bond could have been stretched out a little. In this film, we see M in a new light, and I think Dench brings that aspect to the screen quite well. Let's face it, she had more screen time in The World is Not Enough. As far as Q and Moneypenny go, they were, in part, the comic relief to this film. Cleese did an excellent portrayal of Q, which is hard to do since he followed the great Desmond Llewelyn. His quick quips with Bond are priceless. The great thing about Moneypenny is that she finally gets bond... or does she?
The two best action sequences in this film were the sword-fight between Bond and Graves and the car chase on the lake in Iceland. I thought that the sword-fight was a nice touch to the film, although I really saw no point to Madonna's character. It was a relief because the weapons were something other than guns. The car chase was great because you see two of the worlds most beautiful cars at their fullest. It kept you on the edge of your seat. The only thing that got in the way of the chase scene, were the frequent scene changes back to Jinx.
Overall, it was an entertaining movie and I recommend seeing it, if you don't have anything else to see first. By far, not one of the best Bond movies ever made. I waited for three years to see this one, and it wasn't quite what I had anticipated. The movie was hyped way too much in the media, and doesn't live up the to the high standards they projected. I hope the next Bond film will be better. Let's hope Brosnan will decided to do more Bond movies after Bond 21, and that M, Q and Moneypenny will have their roles expanded.
The 10th Kingdom: The Making of an Epic (2000)
Wonderful, Brilliant and Magical!
I thought this movie was brilliantly done. The special effects were wonderful and Diane Wiest was wonderful as the Evil Queen. The plot was wonderful and I loved how it thickened throughout the movie! It is every fairy tale all rolled into one. If you loved fairy tales as a child, then this is the movie for you. It has a great ending. I especially loved the ring! =) See it! I highly recommend it!